Overabundance of peaches!

[Green Omnivore]

I spent a gorgeous afternoon at a U-Pick peach farm and find myself with 16lbs of peaches. My DH and DD made a delicious peach pie (flavoured with almond and nutmeg). Next I plan on making some cobbler, grilled peaches and peach salsa. Any other ideas?
Thanks CHers!

[Lynndsey Rigberg]

My favorite party appetizer, or decadent home treat:
Take a peach and cut into 8 equal slice. Put a little butter in a pan on high heat, and quickly sear each side of the peach slice - don't want limp peaches, so just get a little carmelized sides. Remove from heat.

Take a crostini (just toasted french bread with a little olive oil or butter), top with your favorite cheese (I like some kind of blue cheese, stilton, or triple cream), top with a slice of peach. For home snack, this is perfect. For party, I go one step further: reduce balsamic vinegar until its syrupy. Let it cool. Drizzle the balsamic syrup and honey in alternating streaks along the plate. Looks dramatic and tastes amazing!

Enjoy!

Peach and ginger lemonade

[kattyeyes]

NICE idea!

We also do a riff on bananas foster. Pretty much any fruit is delicious "fosterized" and over ice cream, but I do totally dig your sweet/savory combo above. GOTTA TRY IT!

[nomadchowwoman]

Quick and easy and great for peaches from barely ripe to overripe:
Spiced Peaches--melt 2 T. butter w/ 3 T. dk. brown sugar; add 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom and a pinch of ground nutmeg. Stir. Add 1 - 1 1/4 lbs. peeled, sliced fresh peaches and cook 'til peaches are warm. Good over vanilla ice cream or over pound cake w/ a dollop of whipped cream.

[Pantry Party]

I've made the peach jam recipe from Blue Ribbon Preserves twice in the past few weeks. Though I like to reduce the sugar (from 7 to 4 cups) and it still sets fine:

Peach jam

4 cups peaches, chopped and lightly crushed
¼ cup lemon juice
4 cups sugar
½ tsp unsalted butter
1 pouch liquid pectin

Combine peaches, lemon juice and half the sugar, cover and let stand about 20 minutes. Remove cover, add remaining sugar and the butter, allowing it to dissolve over low-medium heat, then bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring continuously. Remove from heat and skim foam.

Return to heat, bring to a rolling boil then stir in pectin. Return to boil, boil while stirring continuously for one minute. Remove from heat and skim any remaining foam. Allow to cool, then stir to redistribute fruit bits. Fill and process sterilized jars for 10 minutes in boiling water.

http://www.considerthepantry.com/kind...

[AndrewK512]

Sorry to kinda hijack this topic, but while we're already talking about peaches, what would the ratios of peaches to lemon juice be if I wanted to freeze them.

[morwen]

I've never thought about the ratio when I do them but I have a giant bowl that holds around 2 gallons of water. I fill it about 2/3 full of water and then squeeze 2 lemons into it and drop the lemon halves in there as well. Then I toss the peaches in there as I halve and peel them. The color holds nicely on my frozen peaches.

[AndrewK512]

do you slice them or freeze them in halves?

[morwen]

Halves. Leaves the option of slicing semi-thawed later. I drain them, lay the halves on foil lined sheets and freeze. When frozen I peel them off the foil and bag.

[Green Omnivore]

Do you peel them first? or can they be peeled later if you need to?

[morwen]

Peel them first. Bring a large pot of water to boiling. While that's heating fill your sink with cold water and ice. When the water's boiling drop in some peaches for 30 seconds or so and then transfer them to the cold water. Peel them with your fingers. The peach skins will slip right off, no knife needed. As you peel them cut them in half and put directly into your bowl of lemon water.

[kattyeyes]

I love this recipe for Peachy Cheesecake Squares from Penzey's:
http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzey...

But it is hard NOT to love something with peaches and sweetened condensed milk that tastes like cheesecake. :)

[LindaWhit]

THIS sounds seriously good, kattyeyes!

[Green Omnivore]

I have to make this. It looks amazing!

[Passadumkeg]

Start wine-ing!

[cookie44]

Fresh peach ice cream! Mentioned it in another thread but preaches are great in otherwise savory salads too...with greens or arugula, maybe some goat cheese, etc.

[EWSflash]

Whiz some up in the blender with some tequila and ice. Or else freeze the whole blenderful of peaches and tequila ahead of time and take it out and buzz it every so often. You'll need to use enough tequila so it doesn't freeze solid. :-) A good squeeze of lemon or lime or citric acid will keep it a nice color and give it some lovely tartness.

[Alicia]

I've been wanting to try this recipe: http://www.cookscountry.com/recipe.as...

[DishDelish]

This looks amazing! Thanks for the link, I plan on trying this too! =)

[LNG212]

I just saw this recipe in this morning's NYTimes Magazine for brandied peaches (canning). I am so eager to try it. It might be a great way to savor some of your bounty over the winter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/mag...

[Green Omnivore]

Thanks for all the suggestions and I will do a thorough search before adding a new post! The roast chicken salad with peaches sounds amazing. And I'll definitely freeze a pie/tart or 2 for a taste of summer in the middle of winter.

[goodhealthgourmet]

you can freeze some of the peaches by themselves too, in case you want to use them in a sauce or roast them as a side for a meat dish.

[Querencia]

If you have freezer space, set up a cobbler or deep-dish peach pie for next January. Mix your sliced peaches with sugar and a little flour and a teaspoon of Fruit Fresh so they don't turn brown. Line your baking dish with a plastic bag, pour in the peaches, and freeze. Then remove the whole thing, wrap some more, and put it back in the freezer. When you want it, it will already fit the baking dish and you can just add topping or a crust.

[goodhealthgourmet]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/553273
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/635953
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/538075
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/626795
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/324318
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/618520
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/531743
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/632158
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/321957
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/419239
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/279569

plus tons of threads for specific recipes (cobbler, ice cream, jam, etc); the "search" function is a wonderful thing.

[LindaWhit]

I love it when you Google, ghg. ;-)

[goodhealthgourmet]

LOL! i can honestly say that's the first time anyone's ever said that to me, Linda :)

[Caitlin McGrath]

I have recommended this tart before, even fairly recently (hey, it's peach sason); if you like almonds, this is a simple-to-make, fabulous dessert (with a homemade crust, preferably), as peach and almond flavors are great together. I don't bother peeling the peaches, as they're raw.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[DishDelish]

-Peach preserves/jelly,
-This sangria recipe I found looks good, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Conchis-Sangria/Detail.aspx
-Peach bread pudding, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peachy-Bread-Pudding-with-Caramel-Sauce/Detail.aspx
Peach ice cream
Roast Chicken Salad With Peaches, Goat Cheese, and Pecans (this looks yummy, I think I will have to try it), http://www.recipezaar.com/roast-chick...

Have fun!